Rio SEO bolsters search with Top Local Search acquisition

Covario subsidiary Rio SEO acquired Top Local Search to expand its local search offerings, said Russ Mann, CEO of both Rio SEO and Covario. With the acquisition, the SEO provider will now offer Rio SEO Local Search Solutions, a suite of five “hyper-local” SEO software offerings.

Mann declined to name financial terms of the acquisition, which closed in May.

“Rio SEO Local Search Solutions allow national brands and retailers to keep brand consistency at national level but offer local and mobile customization,” Mann said. “We wanted to add capabilities that would highlight the local and offline presence of companies—and that's what Rio SEO Local Search Solutions does.”

The analytics within the tool suite track customer activity, including what customers looked for (such as whether they singled out store hours), whether they downloaded coupons or used click-to-call features, Mann said.

“It's all tracked so companies know if the store in Seattle is receiving more driving directions or getting more video views or social likes, and whether they're doing it more from desktop or mobile,” Mann said.

The five tools within Rio SEO Local Search Solutions function as follows: Rio SEO Location Finder and SEO Mobile Location Finder allow companies to add and delete local business locations and manage promotions, for desktop and mobile, respectively. Rio SEO Local Search Optimizer allows companies to automate location and mobile landing pages to target organic and local search on Google, Yahoo and Bing.

Top Local Search principals joining Rio SEO include Bill Connard, founder and CEO, and Penny Phaneuf, customer support manager. Connard is now Rio SEO's senior director for product and business development. Phaneuf is now the company's product support manager, focusing on former Top Local Search technology offerings. There were no Top Local Search redundancies.

Top Local Search's clients will now become Rio SEO clients. Mann did not reveal the number or names of clients but said they include well known national retailers and manufacturers in the retail, automotive, consumer medical, sporting goods and real estate sectors.

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